KUALA LUMPUR:The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) and the private sector must escalate co-operation to optimise the allocation in the 2021 Budget to MAFI so that the initiative to empower the national foodagro sector can be achieved by using the latest technologies to modernise agriculture.

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), Faculty of Technical and Vocational Dean associate professor Dr Ridzwan Che Rus said co-operation with the private sector was important because unlike the government they had sophisticated technologies in boosting the productivity of the national food supply.

‘’Although, the RM4.79 billion allocated to MAFI under the 2021 Budget is rather limited to finance the project, existing technologies in public universities and agricultural research centres can share results for commercialisation by private companies through skills transfer.

‘’In line with the Fourth Industrialisation (IP 4.0), the use of technology in various forms such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, geography information system, global positioning system, satellites and robots can be beneficial in smart agriculture.

‘’The foodagro sector must be developed so it is modernised, competitive and commercial to achieve a high and sustainable productivity level and subsequently able to fill the food supply need in the country,’’ he told Bernama.

Ridzwan said the use of the latest technologies could overcome dependence on manpower resources in the agriculture sector.

‘’The results of researches by the Malaysian Agriculture Research Development Institute (MARDI) and public universities on the latest agricultural mechanisation could be beneficially made use of by MAFI by offering certain grants for suitable agriculture machinery innovation and technologies.

‘’Aid in the form of technological equipment assistance grants too could be given by MAFI and the related government agencies to boost the technological capabilities among Malaysian farmers,’’ he added.

In addition, Ridzwan also recommended that crops be cultivated in and on buildings in the urban areas by using artificial lighting technologies, planned ventilation and smart humidity measurement.

During the tabling of the 2021 Budget on Nov 6, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz announced a RM4.79 billion allocation for MAFI involving management expenditure (RM3.28 billion) and development expenditure (RM1.51 billion), which was higher compared to previously.

Meanwhile, an analyst saw the RM10.19 billion allocation for the Rural Development Ministry under the 2021 Budget, as capable of closing the income gap between the rural and urban areas. The budget received was RM431 more than the previous allocation

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran said the allocation could be used to build basic infrastructure for the rural population as well as upgrade existing facilities.

Mohammad Shatar said with the existence of various facilities provided by the government to the rural community, socio-economic progress could be enhanced besides encouraging the migration of people to rural areas.

Rural Development Minister Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad was previously reported to have said that of the RM10.19 billion allocated to his ministry, RM3.533 billion would be for management expenditure and RM6.657 billion in development allocation.

-- BERNAMA